Business woman, entrepreneur and philanthropist Bisila Bokoko is the April 2018 SIA-Africa Person of the Month. In 2009, Bokoko, a native of Valencia, Spain, founded the Bisila Bokoko African Literacy Project (BBALP), a New York City-based nonprofit committed to promoting literacy across Africa. Bokoko focused her efforts on organizing people and resources to build modern libraries. BBALP currently has a presence in Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Uganda. Its motto is “with a book, you are never alone”. Bokoko has said her desire to empower those less fortunate to create a better life inspired her to found BBALP.
Bokoko also serves as global ambassador and strategist for Pikolinos, a Spanish fashion brand that began the Pikolinos Massai Project in 2008. The fair trade project works on the sustainable development of the Maasai community in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. Over 1,600 Maasai women hand embroider leather onto Pikolinos shoes and bags enabling them to earn a stable income while preserving their cultural heritage and way of life.
Bokoko is a spokesperson for the Liceu Barcelona Opera House U.S. Foundation and is an advisory board member of the United Nations EMPRETEC Women Programs, fostering entrepreneurship skills among women in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. In 2014 she co-hosted UNCTAD’s EMPRETEC Women in Business Awards (E-WBA) ceremony in Geneva, Switzerland, during the World Investment Forum.
Her company, Bisila Bokoko Embassy (BBES) International, a New York-based business development agency represents, promotes and markets brands internationally in the fields of fashion, lifestyle, arts and culture. Prior to starting BBES she was executive director of the Spain-U.S. Chamber of Commerce in New York City.
For her efforts to use her knowledge to empower others and her work supporting the people of Africa, we are happy to name Bisila Bokoko SIA-Africa Person of the Month for April 2018.
